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The Early Word: The Voters Decide

By Michael Falcone November 4, 2008 8:59 amNovember 4, 2008 8:59 am

We can hardly believe the day has arrived (will somebody pinch us?) when one of the longest, most compelling chapters in our nation’s political history draws to a close. On Tuesday an election that has often taken on outsized proportions comes down to individual voters across the country who, in big cities and small towns, will select the 44th President of the United States. Today is their day.

Among those voting were the candidates themselves this morning. Our colleague John Broder, who has been traveling with Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., sent along the list of Bidens traveling to Chicago for tonight’s events — more than 30 will be flying along. (Mr. Biden’s 91-year-old mother accompanied him to the polls in Delaware this morning.)

And although there is a new chapter waiting to be written, let’s take a moment to savor the campaign that was. The Times’s Adam Nagourney leads off our Election Day coverage with the long view of the 2008 election, which he writes, has changes politics as we know it:

It has rewritten the rules on how to reach voters, raise money, organize supporters, manage the news media, track and mold public opinion, and wage — and withstand — political attacks, including many carried by blogs that did not exist four years ago. It has challenged the consensus view of the American electoral battleground, suggesting that Democrats can at a minimum be competitive in states and regions that had long been Republican strongholds.

We won’t know until after all the ballots have been cast, but if early voting in dozens of states is any indication, the election may also be a watershed when it comes to turnout. As the clock struck midnight on Nov. 4, the first results came in from the town of Dixville Notch, N.H. Senator Barack Obama received 15 votes in the northern New Hampshire town, putting him ahead of his rival, Senator John McCain, who got 6 votes. Is it an indication of things to come?

While we all wait to find out, The Times’s Katharine Q. Seelye offers a preview of what to watch for as the tallies from all over the country stream in later today and in a video she takes a look back at the historic race. The Times will bring you comprehensive coverage of the voting, the results and the candidates today — check out this handy guide of all our online offerings.
The Times’s Jacques Steinberg notes that television networks may call the presidential race before all the poll are closed.

On the Trail Wrapping up their last full day of campaigning the two presidential candidates scooted around the country making a final pitch to voters in key battlegrounds. The Times’s Jeff Zeleny and Elisabeth Bumiller file this dispatch from the trail:

Mr. Obama surrendered the race to the judgment of the American people as he told a booming crowd here, “Now, it’s all about who wants it more, who believes in it more.” Mr. McCain sought to motivate Republicans who worried aloud that it could be a bleak election, declaring, “The Mac is back!”

In the final hours of his second bid for the presidency, Mr. McCain dashed through Republican-leaning states from Florida to Indiana and New Mexico to Nevada. He stopped in Tennessee, hoping to reach voters in adjacent North Carolina and Virginia, and he swung by only one normally Democratic state, Pennsylvania. He planned to return home for a rally in Arizona in the small hours of the night.

At a rally in Charlotte, N.C. yesterday, Senator Obama announced the death of his 86-year-old grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham, who suffered from cancer. Mrs. Dunhan helped raise Mr. Obama in Hawaii and last month he took a break from the campaign trail to visit her.

The Vote The Washington Post’s Mary Pat Flaherty reports on some of the challenges voters may face as they head to the polls today and representatives from the presidential campaign and other third-party groups have pledged to remain vigilant:

Campaign staffers for Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama said yesterday that they were expecting good results and a good experience for voters, but both camps also brought up complaints and accusations about voting. Republican concerns have primarily centered on fraudulent voter registrations, while the main worry for Democrats has been that eligible voters may not get to cast regular ballots.

Spokesmen for both campaigns said they would not shy away from heading to court on Election Day to challenge a problem at the polls, but they also said they would be restrained in picking court battles.

Now is the time to take off our partisan hats and put on our American hats. Everyone who is eligible to vote should get out and exercise their right to do so. I would rather have my candidate lose because of a heavy turnout than win because we citizens didn’t care enough about deciding who is going to run our country.

More than any thing I am keenly looking forward to finally knowing the power of Internet,blogs(including ‘caucus’) in the final outcome of the POTUS 2008 election.Hope it makes the difference,already seen in form of massive early votings.

Obama’s key attribute is his intelligence. We as a nation have to get over our fear of people who can think. The American people’s ingrained mis-trust of the smart has been our undoing in so many ways. Simple folk can only imagine simple things and have simple dreams. What about progressing into the future and providing direction and solutions to the myriad of problems facing this country and the world can be accomplished by the simple-minded? Nothing. While ‘Joe the Plumber’ should be afforded all opportunities and rights in our society, he is not equipped to lead us anywhere. Today we must vote for a smart man first and read a book second.

Republicans may have something to learn from the Democrats this year. For one thing, obscene anounts of money to spend does not a landslide make.

It will be interesting to see what tactics Republicans take from the Democrats this time around, though I’m having trouble finding a Republican equivalant to the Democratic efforts, as reporteded by BBC Radio a couple of months ago, at door-to-door canvassing for convicted felons as potential Obama voters.

In the final hours, frantic to leave no stone unturned in search of votes, I envision mechanically-inclined Obama volunteers trolling the streets with backhoes randomly scooping up unwitting citizens and depositing them on the local precinct steps, having utilized the time en route to play a continuous of loop “Yes we can.” Voters will agree to vote “Obama” if it will only stop.

And reading the coverage of McCain’s appreance on SNL Sat. night (which actually sounded pretty funny in a regular guy sort of way which I wouldn’t expect Obama supporters to appreciate) reminded me that Obama would not agree to the 10 town hall meetings McCain proposed earlier this year. Another brilliant move by Obama — he would be the first to know the impossibility of sustaining that cool and collected exterior over ten unscripted hours when he would be subjected to voters who may not have completely bought into that “messiah” thing.

And just to re-cap, for all the Obama fans, some of the highlights of this extra-ordinary year.

— the moment when you realized that Obama wasn’t just some skinny unknown neophyte, he was a contender! Suddenly that Oprah appearance (BEFORE he was a presidential candidate, of course) made sense and you were wondering how you missed “Dreams of My Father” ten years ago.

— Hillary and Bill racism exposed. How could two people who devoted their adult lives to the Democratic party, with many black friends, a President beloved by the black community, have hidden their vile racism for so long? (This one is a personal favorite.)

— June 19, after a promise to participate in public campaign financing, Obama sends an e-mail to supporters reversing that decision. Obama managed to discover what no other public official had been able to detect: the campaign finance system is broken, Another principled decision!

— August 28, Obama’s acceptance reminds us of the riveting 2004 Democratic keynote address “The Audacity of Hope,” upon which a subsequent NYT bestseller was based. Feel re-assured that Obama only got the title from a Jeremiah Wright sermon and his 20 years of Wright mentoring had absolutely no effect on Obama’s belief system.

— By September Bill and Hill have returned their racism to “latent” status in order to get out the vote for our guy. All is forgiven for now.

I could go on and on: Rezko, Ayers, Aunti Z, Obama’s history-changing reading of the Warren court’s previously misunderstood conservatism in failing to redistribute wealth, the “October Surprise” platform to “lower expectations” amongst supporters, the MSM’s determination not to let race become an issue in this campaign, even if it means not doing their jobs; the sharing of TUCC’s Black Values System with all the world, not just Chicago.

What a year it’s been!

Now I’ll close. In respect for what I’ve learned this year —

God Bless Obama first,

the Black Community second,

All those Europeans who love Obama third,

Iranians, North Koreans, et.al., otherwise known as those who might be offended by the wearing of an American flag pin, fourth,

Adam Nagourney’s “It has rewritten the rules on how to …track and mold public opinion..” really is true when it comes to myself.
Thank you NYT for giving me a voice to share with your readers in cyberspace. Regards and Vote !

I just voted and I would like to know why McCain/Palin is listed under three different categories on the ballot. The republican nominee is listed under republican,conservative, and independent. He is about as independent as I am a Texan (I am a New Yorker).

We have finally arrived at the last day of the campaign. This campaign was historical in many ways and who ever wins will have a challenge similar to what FDR had in 1933. They will also face two wars. The economy is in tatters and America’s place in the world has faltered.

So, this election is too important to not exercise your right to vote. so,

Emily from GA (#2) Thanks for the excellent recap. I hadn’t forgotten this campaign, but it was nice to read a succinct explanation of why I rejected the Democrats and voted an all Republican ticket. As for God Bless America, far too many people do not love and appreciate the opportunites that America has provided to its own citzens and people around the world who have come here to live. American bashing, especially by the left-wing Democrats, is the thing to do. I love America. God Bless this great nation of ours and let it be spared left-wing extremism. The mighty U.S. deserves much better than that.

If Obama wins, in the orgy of self-congratulation over the enlightenment of America in electing a black man, which has not happened in France or England or Germany, let’s remember that there won’t be a single black in the U.S. Senate. What this speaks to you might call the Arthur Ashe effect. When Ashe rose up in the tennis world it seemed to augur a new day for African-Americans in the bastion of WASPS. It didn’t happen. It said more about the extraordinary skills of Arthur Ashe than it did a sea change in tennis. Could the same be said of Barack Obama?

I live in Baltimore City, in a pretty poor (but fast gentrifying community) on the westside. I was so happy to stand in long lines! My community has one of the lowest voter turn out in Baltimore (probably the country)…It was great to see so many people in line!

Even if Obama doesn’t make it, I think this will be still be great for everyone. I was just so inspired to see people, who didn’t think it mattered anymore, see that it does. I don’t think that even a lose for Obama, would be able to disconnect all the people that have plugged in. We all know that we matter, even if Washington D.C. and the politicians don’t make us feel that way!

What will become of The Caucus now that the campaign nears completion?

I wonder the same thing. What will happen to The Caucus? All of these pundits? I understand the need to move away from Bush as soon as possible but this campaign has lasted waaaaayyyyyy to long. Here’s hoping for a shorter campaign season in 2012.

i propose that today is the greatest…the ONLY gift…W gave this country. the phenomenal level of engagement, interest, and passion that culminates in today’s expected record voter turnout is thanks to our horror over his policies and countless disasters. thanks, prez!!!

This election sure has changed politics. It used to be the media could be counted on for critical analysis of all candidates. In this election cycle the media became a propaganda outlet for the Obama campaign. If Obama wins it will be interesting to watch as one after another media outlet loses favor with the Obama regime. I wonder how long it will take Obama to announce his desire to nationalize the media?

Hurray for independence and for the American spirit. Today is the day, that I can vote for a candidate that has MY interest. I did that this morning and election mornings past. It’s good knowing that I have a say in what happens four years from now. Get out and vote…

To all the haters, maybe it would be a good thing to have a president that is not in the pocket of business. The current one who is has not done any of us any justice and, suprisingly, not enriched anyone of us that was not already extremely wealthy. And a note to the beleagured Repubs amongst us: Tough.

I believe you misread the “Independence” party for “Independent”. McCain is the nominee for 3 parties (Rep, Conservative, and Independence), while Obama is for 2 (Dem and Working Families Party).

Incidentally, this suggests a good rebuttal to the Republican claim of Obama being a socialist: if he’s really in favor of “spreading the wealth,” then why isn’t he the nominee of the “Party for Socialism and Liberation”? (Gloria la Riva is.)

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